According to the World Health Organization (WHO), each year almost 1 in 10 people fall ill after eating contaminated food. That\u2019s roughly 600 million people, of whom 420,000 will die. Even more upsetting, foodborne illness disproportionately harms children: Just 8% of the world\u2019s population is younger than 5 years old, but they account for 40% of foodborne illness-related deaths each year.<\/p>\n
In addition to the human toll of foodborne illness comes the economic cost. Low- and middle-income countries lose a total of around $110 billion annually due to medical expenses and reduced productivity associated with foodborne illness. Even in an \u201cadvanced\u201d nation the cost is staggering: Foodborne illness costs the U.S. $152 billion each year.<\/p>\n
On top of all of that, unsafe and suspect food regularly results in trade rejections and increased food waste, driving waste disposal costs while losing the investment in those foodstuffs. This creates a drag on both individual businesses and economic growth writ large.<\/p>\n
It takes global cooperation and awareness to clean up a global supply chain. Each year since 2019, June 7 has been designated World Food Safety Day (WFSD)<\/a>. A joint project of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO), World Food Safety Day aims to promote a fundamental message:<\/p>\n \u201cFood safety is a shared responsibility between governments, producers and consumers. Everybody has a role to play from farm to table to ensure the food we consume is safe and will not cause damages to our health.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n The theme of this year\u2019s World Food Safety Day \u201cFood Safety: Science in Action.\u201d In the words of Dr. Luz Maria De Regil, Director of WHO\u2019s Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, \u201cScience is at the heart of food safety.\u201d To tackle this problem, we have to support further explorations into the underlying mechanisms of foodborne illness, and then apply those findings to how we grow, store, handle, ship, trade, prepare, serve, and consume our food.<\/p>\nFood Safety: Science in Action<\/h2>\n